Fellow-Redeemed in Christ Jesus,
In the world’s economy, people count greatness as ruling over others. In the kingdom of God, Jesus counts greatness as serving others. Earlier in our service, we witnessed the blessing of that true greatness. Our Savior, great in his being, served little Jacob first by giving his holy life on the cross to pay for Jacob’s sins. Today, Jesus called Jacob into the kingdom of God by his Holy Spirit.
Such humble service is the lesson Jesus taught his disciples as two of them sought places of honor at Jesus’ side. They had no better example than their Teacher. Jesus was not interested in taking a position of high honor among men. He would do just the opposite. He would go to Jerusalem, be betrayed into the hands of his enemies, and be condemned to death.
This is The Son of Man’s Perfect Service to God. He goes to ransom us from our sins. His ransom inspires us to the greatness of humble service.
Jesus had just been very specific with the disciples that it was time to fulfill the purpose for which he, the Son of God, had come to earth and became the Son of Man. With their worldly idea about greatness, Brothers James, incidentally, Jacob in Greek, and John, came to Jesus with a request. We paraphrase their initial statement, “Jesus, we would like to ask you to do something for us?” Jesus told them to go ahead and ask.
Jesus told them they
really did not understand what they were asking. “Let one of us sit at your right hand and the other at your left in
your glory.” Jesus would complete his work not by becoming great by human
standards but by drinking the cup of suffering to the bottom, and experience a
baptism of blood on the cross. This is the meaning of Jesus’ words, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be
served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus gave his life as a ransom. It is the price that was paid to free prisoners of war from their captures, or slaves from their owners. The price Jesus paid was not gold or silver. It was his holy, precious blood, and his innocent suffering and death on the cross. Jesus paid this price for the entire world, the many including you and me. Jesus paid the price to his Father in heaven for it is God whom our sins offend. It is his righteousness and holiness we have violated with our disobedience of his holy will revealed in the Ten Commandments.
That ransom Jesus paid has freed us from the guilt and power of our sins. There is no sacrifice we need to offer or can offer since Jesus has paid off our debt to God. This is the Son of Man’s perfect service to God. It is the model and the power for our humble service to one another. His ransom inspires us to the greatness of humble service.
James and John desired positions of honor at Jesus’ side. Jesus pointed out to them that they would be at his side, all right, but not in the way they thought. They would also drink the cup of suffering, and the baptism of blood. James was to become the first martyr among the 12 and John experience exile.
Jesus now taught all the disciples a lesson about humble service. The other disciples had become “indignant” or we might say, vexed, over James and John’s audacious request. Jesus’ lesson shows that their issue was not offence at the idea of greatness next to Jesus but jealousy that James and John wanted something they likely thought they should have as well.
Jesus used the comparison between who the world thinks is great, the one who rules or has authority over others, and greatness in the kingdom of God. In the kingdom “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all.” They had Jesus as their inspiration to the greatness of humble service.
Jesus’ service to Jacob and to us on the cross and as he brings us into his kingdom through holy baptism inspires us to the greatness of humble service. It is not our need or intention to be counted as great by ruling over others or to claim some greater human authority with God over others. Rather than sit back and expect our fellow believers to serve us, we step forward in the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit to serve them.
We serve one another by praying for one another. We use our time and abilities in concert with other members of the body of Christ for the common good. We feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and give a drink of water to the thirsty. We visit the sick, mourn and rejoice with one another. In the humble service of Christ for us, we forgive one another when they have sinned against us or offended us.
When we are tempted to seek greatness as if we somehow deserved it in the kingdom of God, we listen to the gospel, “even the Son of Man did not come to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” We cannot give our lives or actions as a ransom for anyone else or ourselves. No need to do that. Jesus has done it for us. Instead, we render humble service to one another inspired by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
Jesus, we would like to ask you to do something for us. We know what we ask. Make us always trust in your humble service to us so that we can be great in the kingdom of God through a willingness to be a servant, a slave of all. Amen. <SDG>